The Best Kind of Mistakes
by xInfinitelyOriginalx
Summary: [AU] Percy Jackson is by no means a delinquent, so when his mother sends him away to a rehabilitation center to deal with his 'issues' of course he's infuriated. But yet, things take an unexpected turn when he meets Thalia, a mysterious girl he can't seem to stay away from. Rated T for some cussing, self harm and relationship-y stuff. Percy/Thalia Perlia. No gods.
1. Mr Delinquent

**Disclaimer: If I owned PJO/HoO there would be Perlia. And there is no Perlia. See what I'm getting at?**

* * *

Percy loved his mother, he really did. She made him blue cookies, helped him with his reading class- which was suffering badly due to his dyslexia- and even bought his pills- not that they helped much- to quell his ADHD, even though they by any means weren't rich, but this- _this_- was a whole different level, one that Percy didn't like much.

"What is this?" the sixteen year old spluttered as he waved the brochure in his mom's face. He'd come home from a long day of school and had found the damn thing lying innocently on his bed.

Sally pursed her lips. "_That_ is where I'm sending you."

"Why?" Percy was completely bewildered, a feeling he was- unfortunately- used to. "What is this anyway?" he squinted down at the brochure trying to read the small print writing on the page. He recognized the words _Camp Half- Blood _instantly (whatever that meant), but unfortunately he also recognized the word _rehabilitation. _

"It's a youth rehab center that has been recently opened," Sally answered, eying her son wearily. She just wanted what was best for him, but she knew he wasn't going to take this well.

Just as Sally predicted, Percy's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Rehab?! But... why? I'm not a drug addict or something!"

Sally closed her eyes, counting silently in her mind. She loved her son but he got so excitable sometimes. "I got a call from your principle," she barely got the words out of her mouth before Percy started protesting. She held up her hand and he stopped talking. "He said you got detention again this week. What was it this time?"

"It was just an argument," Percy mumbled, kicking at the kitchen tile with the toe of his sneaker.

"He said that you punched someone," Sally said flatly. Percy winced. He hadn't meant to hit the kid; he just got up in his face. It was instinct!

"He probably made it sound worse than it was?" Percy tried. He hadn't meant his words to sound like a question but they did, most likely giving him away in an instant.

His mother just sighed. "You promised me that you'd try to behave."

Percy tried to ignore how his heart broke. He _hated_ making his mom upset and he _really _hated breaking promises.

"I will, just give me one more chance," Percy pleaded. He gave his mother what she called his 'baby seal' face.

Sally shook her head and ran a hand through her greying hair. "I gave you chances, now we're trying something else," this time it was Sally who waved the brochure in Percy's face.

Percy grumbled and took the brochure from his mom, shoving it angrily in his back pocket. He turned around and began making his way to his room, only pausing when his mother called after him.

"Oh, and Percy?" she said. "You should start packing. I'm dropping you off next Friday."

Percy froze, his jaw dropping even though he knew she couldn't see. "What?!"

* * *

It was one week, then it became six days, then five, then four and now it was down to just two. Two days until Percy was being shipped off to Long Island, New York. A place where there wasn't his best friends Grover and Annabeth. A place where there wasn't his half- brother's Tyson and Triton. A place where there wasn't his favorite skateboard shop and pizza joint.

All in all, it was a place where there wasn't any of Percy's happiness.

"You're being ridiculous," Annabeth told him, shoving a book into her locker. Unlike Percy's own locker, Annabeth's was neat and orderly, with color coordinated sticky notes and everything. "Maybe this will actually do you some good."

"Like how?" Percy asked stubbornly. He refused to acknowledge that this might actually help him.

Annabeth shrugged, a smile playing on her lips. "I dunno. Maybe you'll get a girlfriend, girl's love bad boys."

"Is that why you have a crush on Luke Castellan?" Percy raised an eyebrow at the blonde. Luke Castellan was a well-known charmer with a police record. He, Percy and Annabeth had all been friends back before he turned into a first class jerk. It seemed Annabeth hadn't quite forgotten him.

Annabeth turned bright red. "This isn't about me," she spluttered indignantly. Percy barely hid his grin. "This is about you, Mr. Delinquent."

"I'm not sure," Grover spoke up, pretending to look thoughtful. "He's too much of a mama's boy to be a delinquent."

He kept a straight face for a moment before both he and Annabeth burst out laughing. Percy rolled his eyes, shoving Grover lightly on the shoulder. "Oh ha ha, very funny."

Annabeth met his eyes, her grey iris' shining with laughter. "Sorry, Perce," she grinned. "You know it's true."

Percy stuck his hands in his pockets. "Whatever."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows teasingly. She looped her arm through Grover's before tugging him over- which of course made him stumble; he had a weird leg disease thing- and threading her arm through Percy's.

"Alright, guys," she said in a loud, leader like voice. Grover winced when some of the kids passing by in the hallway gave them strange looks. He didn't like attention much. "We only have two days before we lose Mr. Perseus Jackson for a while. I say we make the most of it!"

Percy couldn't help but smile. "Hear, hear," he said just loud enough for his two best friends to hear him.

* * *

Percy hummed along to the song blasting through his speakers as he half walked/half danced around his room, throwing clothes and other random trinkets into his duffel bag. His mom had ordered him to pack (he usually left that sort of thing to the last minute) so he would be ready to leave first thing in the morning. He didn't even get to have one last Friday at school. It was just good riddance Goode.

Ha, Percy cracked a smile. Good, Goode. Funny.

In all honesty, he was feeling a lot better about the whole situation but that was probably just because he'd just gotten back from getting ice cream with Grover and Annabeth. It was impossible to feel sad if you've just eaten cookie dough ice cream.

But still. He wasn't excited.

Annabeth had done some research for him on the center. It was called Camp Half-Blood Juvenile Rehabilitation Center and it was located in a secluded area in Long Island, right by a big lake, which was good. Maybe we could go swimming. It had been opened earlier that year and was run by a middle- aged man named Chiron.

He guessed it seemed like an ok place and there were plenty of kids that went there. "It'll be just like school!" his mom had said. Percy highly doubted that.

He glanced around his room before decidedly throwing in a couple of picture frames that he usually kept on his dresser. He had no clue how long he needed to pack for since his mom wouldn't tell him how long he was going to be there. He'd asked and she'd just said "until you're ready to come back."

That's the parent way of saying "who the hell knows?"

Percy was still confused as to his mother's reasoning for sending him to this place. He didn't think he was a delinquent and he really didn't feel like one. Was there a certain emotion you got if you were a troubled kid? He had no clue. She said it was because of 'excessive violence' at school but he didn't think that was quite accurate. All those kids were begging for it!

Percy sighed. This was pretty much a prison sentence.

* * *

"Rise and shine, Thals!" there was the soft sound of feet padding across the carpet before she heard her curtains being ripped apart. The nice blackness behind her eyelids turned to a blinding red and she shoved her face into her pillow.

"Leave me alone, Valdez," she groaned.

"Oh, please," she could practically hear Leo's grin. "You don't want to be late for breakfast do you?"

Thalia grumbled something unintelligible but she slowly sat up. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and ran a hand through her short hair, all whilst glaring at the boy who decided to invade her room almost every morning at 7 am.

Leo was wearing a rumpled white button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a pair of stained jeans, his favorite sneakers and his tool belt strapped to his waist. Nobody knew why, but he never went anywhere without it. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was smirking at her.

"Nice hair," he commented.

Thalia scowled and reached over to her nightstand, grabbing the brush she kept there. "Like yours is any better," she retorted.

Leo, all in all, looked like a Mexican elf. That was the best way Thalia could describe it. He had curly, unruly black hair, shining eyes and just the normal trouble maker look about him. Although, that last part wasn't abnormal. All of them at CHB rehab had that trouble aura about them.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll be in the dining hall with the others. See you when you're presentable."

He gave a lazy salute before slipping through her door. She shook her head and smiled slightly. She still couldn't believe such a nice kid was in a place like this. They weren't supposed to discuss the reasons they were where they are but they all knew anyway: Leo had run away, like, half a dozen times after his mom died. He kind of also had this obsession with fire. She figured that the lawyer that planted him here thought he would set fire to the world or something.

Thalia stretched her limbs before climbing out of bed. She really hated how early you had to get up around this place.

Stumbling slightly with fatigue, Thalia wrenched open her closet door. She blindly grabbed a t-shirt and jeans before she threw herself in the bathroom. It was like walking into sterilized heaven.

No, not the good kind of heaven. Like heaven, meaning white tiles, white counter, white towels, white everything. It was rather blinding.

Thalia threw on her clothes, brushed her teeth and did her hair in record timing, stopping only to survey her reflection in the mirror. A pale girl with blue eyes and black hair stared back at her. She had rings under her eyes because she was too lazy to put on makeup and her hair hung limp around her face. But anyhow, she looked better than when she first got here.

Before exiting her room, she slid on her favorite combat boots and leather jacket. Like Leo and his tool belt, Thalia rarely went anywhere without her jacket and boots.

When she got the dining room- also known as 'the dining pavilion,' it was basically a cafeteria- she instantly spotted her friends all sitting at one of the dozen or so tables in the corner. She slid into her normal seat next to her brother, Jason.

Jason really didn't belong in there. He fit in well enough, but he didn't belong in a rehab center. The only reason he'd gotten dumped there was because he'd come to drop Thalia off and tell her goodbye but he'd forgotten everything about his life. They discovered he had a weird mental condition that made him forget that huge chunk of his life, but otherwise he was completely ordinary. They weren't sure what happened or what caused it but the lawyer didn't want to deal with him so he left him there with Thalia.

But not all things turned out bad; he was best friends with Leo and even had a girlfriend: Piper, a pretty, kleptomaniac girl with a movie star dad.

"What's for breakfast?" Thalia asked, feeling too lazy to turn around and look at the sign where the menu was always posted.

"French toast," Frank replied from the opposite end of the table. The people who worked in the kitchen delivered each meal to each individual by hand so they could make sure they got their meds and Frank had already gotten his.

Thalia grimaced. "Ew."

"How are we related?" Jason teased her, grinning. She couldn't help but smile in return. Though she was only two years older than her brother, she'd always been very protective over him.

"Beats me," Thalia ruffled his blonde hair teasingly just as a blue plastic tray was set in front of her. A woman in an apron and hairnet glared down at her, thrusting her hand out at Thalia. She spilled the pill she was holding into Thalia's hand.

"No funny business, Ms. Grace," the woman said. "I want to see you swallow the pill this time."

Thalia rolled her eyes but swallowed the pill, opening her mouth to show the woman that it wasn't still in her mouth. The woman rolled her eyes and walked away while Thalia spit the pill out into her hand. She'd been hiding it under her tongue.

"They're going to catch you," Hazel was the cautious one of the group, probably because she'd gone slightly crazy- not that she acted like it- after her mother was murdered in front of her.

"Nah," Thalia shrugged. "Not unless you guys snitch on me," she gave them a pointed look. No one said a word. "Besides, it's not like I need anti-depressants anyway. Do I look depressed?"

"Well… maybe if you wore less black…" Piper said. Thalia scowled and Piper held up her hands in surrender. "Jeez, Thalia. I was joking."

"I agree with Thalia," Leo said. "We don't need to take pills."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "You're just saying that because you're not on any."

"And because you have a crush on my sister, thus agreeing with everything she says," Jason chimed in helpfully.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Maybe at first but she's got too much baggage," Thalia rolled her eyes. "Plus, Leo Valdez flies solo. I'm like the lone wolf."

"Whatever you say," said Frank snorting.

Just then, there was the familiar loud banging sound of Chiron- the manager/instructor/owner of CHB- pounding his walking stick against the ground. The dining hall fell silent in seconds.

"Good morning children!" Chiron said good naturedly. There was a murmuring of 'good mornings' that passed through the crowd. "I hope you all slept well. Anyway, Mr. D and I-" Mr. D grunted in acknowledgment to his name. He was a dumpy middle- aged man who hated children in general. "- are excited to inform you that we are going to be getting a new patient later this morning so you know what that means: no picking fights, no stealing his things, no poking fun and no pulling pranks. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," we all responded dully, just as we were supposed to.

"Wonderful," Chiron smiled and sat down next to Mr. D. "Have a nice day."

"So," Leo rubbed his hands together. "We're getting some new meat."  
Piper punched Leo's arm and he winced. "Can you try not to scare any _more_ people away? I actually like making friends."

Leo stuck out his tongue at her. "All those kids were jerks; you wouldn't want to be friends with them anyway."

Piper responded by shoving him sideways, nearly sending him face first into Hazel's breakfast.

"Calm down you two," Hazel warned, glancing at one of the 'chaperones' who were there 'for our own good.' "That lady is giving us the stink eye."

"Yeah Beauty Queen, wouldn't want to get in trouble," Leo bounced his eyebrows up and down a couple times.

Piper scowled but let the subject drop. Probably because she was too busy looking at Jason who'd just slid his arm around her shoulder and was saying something in her ear.

Thalia smirked to herself. _Young love_, she thought dully. _The most useless thing in the world._

* * *

Percy arrive at Camp Half Blood Juvenile Rehabilitation Center at exactly 12: 01 pm. The place didn't look like anything special, kind of like a hotel but maybe a bit smaller. It definitely didn't look like the place you send kids when they've done terrible things.

Not that he's done terrible things, because he hasn't.

Percy climbed out of the passenger seat and waited patiently while his mom popped the trunk. He shouldered his duffel bag and waited for his mother to grab the paperwork they needed or whatever.

When they walked into the lobby the first thing Percy noticed was the sound. He heard everything you heard walking down a school hallway: laughing, talking, arguing, cussing and everything else you didn't expect to hear from a place like Camp Half-Blood. Maybe his mom was right and it _would_ be like a new school.

He and his mother walked up to the front desk where a teenage girl sat with her feet up on the table. She had stringy auburn hair and was hardly paying them any attention, admiring her chipped nails with mild interest.

"Excuse me," Percy's mom cleared her throat. The girl looked up as though this was the first time she'd realized anyone else was there. "Do you work here?"

"Who, me?" she asked, looking amused. _Who else?_ Percy wanted to ask. He bit his tongue. "Nah, I'm Clarisse," she swiveled around in the chair and stuck her head through the door behind her and shouted, "Chiron!"

A few moments later a middle aged man with an unruly brown beard appeared through the door. He looked weary for a minute before his landed on Percy and his mother, then he smiled.

"Ah! You must be Perseus Jackson, the new patient," Chiron held out his hand to shake. Percy took it.

"It's Percy," he corrected. He hated his full name, it was much too… _proper_ for his taste.

"My apologies," Chiron then shook his mother's hand before walking back behind the desk- shooing away Clarisse who left grudgingly- and produced a pen. "I trust you brought the paperwork?"

Sally nodded and picked up the pen, signing in all the places Chiron told her too. "This might take a little bit," Chiron told Percy. He turned his head slightly and smiled. "Ah! I'll have Mr. D here show you to your room."

Percy nodded, readjusting the strap on his duffel bag. His mother turned to him, paperwork momentarily forgotten. She embraced him in a hug that he returned without a second thought.

"Be good, Percy," his mom murmured. "I just want what's best for you."

"I know."

"Good," he could practically hear her smile. She released him slowly. "I love you, Percy. I hope you like it here."

He gave her an encouraging smile before turning to the man Chiron called Mr. D. Percy practically did a double take. This man standing in front of him was wearing the _loudest _shirt Percy had ever seen, not to mention his matching potbelly.

"Um, hi," Percy greeted him carefully.

"Hello," Mr. D said flatly. "Allow me to show to your room."

Percy followed him down a long hallway and up a couple of flights of stairs. Another hallway and they finally stopped in front a door labeled 2B. "This is your room, where you'll be staying. Here's your room key," Mr. D dropped a plastic key card into Percy's hand. He told him everything in the same monotone. _Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed,_ Percy thought dryly. "If you go back down to level we were just at, there is what we call a 'social room.' We have cable, free Wi-Fi and foosball. Some basic rules are that if you want to have a friend sleepover in your room you have to ask Chiron or myself first. Questions?"

Percy shook his head. "No."

Mr. D raised an eyebrow. "Sir."

"No, sir," Percy repeated feeling irritable. He had a feeling he wouldn't be getting along with this man. Not waiting for Mr. D to leave, Percy slid the keycard into the slot and stepped into his new room, closing the door behind him.

"Home sweet home," he murmured to himself.

* * *

**So I know what you're thinking... well, that's not true but I know what ****_I'm _****thinking: what are you doing starting a new story when you have two more in progress?! And I know, I know but this idea has been floating around in my brain for over a month now and I just needed to write it down. I'm really excited to see what you guys think of it as well :)**

**Oh, and BTW the story cover art picture thing says "If only you knew... how much I actually care" the words got cut off because it was too long. But I edited myself so I'm rather proud of it :D**


	2. Staying Incognito

**Disclaimer: I usually forget these so I'm rather proud of myself for remembering. PJO? Yeah, don't own it.**

* * *

Percy's new room was nice enough, he decided after surveying the space for a moment. Sure, he didn't have his Xbox or anything but the bed was _super_ comfortable. The whole thing was laid out kind of how Percy imagined a college dorm would be: there was a bed, a desk against the wall and a small nightstand beside said bed. Not to mention that he had his own bathroom, which was pretty sweet seeing as he'd always had to share with his mother.

After he settled in (meaning he threw his duffel bag onto the floor and flopped on the bed) he decided to maybe check out this 'social room' Mr. D had talked about. He couldn't find an elevator so he took the stairs back down to the main level and after poking his head into several wrong places he finally found the room he was looking for.

A dozen or so teenagers were littered around the room, chatting in corners, watching TV and playing foosball. A fidgeting Latino kid noticed him first.

He crossed the room with a bounce in his step and called out in a loud voice. "You must be the new kid!"

Percy cringed. Way to stay incognito.

"Um yeah. I'm Percy."

"Leo Valdez," the kid grinned and stuck out his hand. Percy took it, eying him wearily. He had too much energy for his own good. He bet that he had ADHD, too.

"Nice to meet you," Percy said awkwardly. He wasn't very good at meeting new people but this kid seemed to be just fine around strangers.

"So what are you in for?" Leo started walking towards a group of kids at the back of the room. Percy figured he was meant to follow, so he did.

"Um, what do you mean?"

"Like, why are you in rehab?" Leo asked. Percy wondered if this guy realized that that sort of thing was private info.

Still, he figured it didn't hurt to tell. "Excessive violence," he made finger quotes around the words. He still thought that that was ridiculous so he didn't feel so awkward about admitting it.

"Excellent," Leo grinned. _What's excellent about that?_ Percy wondered. "I ran away six… no," he paused and scratched his head in thought. "No, seven times."

Percy was about to reply when they reached Leo's little group at the back of the room. "Hey, guys look!" Leo pointed at Percy in triumph. Percy fidgeted under the stares that all bore into him as Leo's friends turned around and looked at him. "I find the new guy! This is Percy."

"That's nice, Leo," a tall, skinny girl with the most _brilliant_ blue eyes Percy had ever seen said. She seemed pretty uninterested in him judging by her tone whilst everyone else regarded him with mild curiosity.

Leo frowned mockingly. "Thalia," he whined. "Don't be such a downer."

The girl- _Thalia_- rolled her eyes. "Ok fine," she said, clearing her throat. In an overly peppy voice she said, "Wow, Percy, it's super nice to meet you! I really hope you enjoy it here in this prison that they mask as a rehab center!"

A blonde boy with similar colored eyes spoke up. "Don't mind my sister," he said, throwing her a teasing look. "I'm Jason."

A very pretty girl with choppy brown hair and multi- colored eyes stepped up. "I'm Piper," she smiled. Percy decided that her creamy colored skin meant she was Native American.

Next was a Chinese boy who had a slight baby-ish look about him. He introduced himself as Frank and Percy almost had to keep himself from laughing. Who named their kid _Frank_ anymore?

After Frank was a petite black girl with pretty caramel colored curls. Her name was Hazel and she seemed to be the youngest and also- he gathered- was dating Frank.

It was pretty overwhelming and he figured he'd forget all their names by tonight. But still, it was nice that they didn't automatically hate him like he'd experienced with other kids all the many times he'd gone to a new school.

"Hey!" Leo perked up suddenly. "Maybe you'll be in our group!"

"Group?" Percy asked feeling confused. He didn't know anything about a group.

Leo nodded. "Every night- minus Sunday- after dinner everyone here attends a group therapy session," Leo gestured in turn to everyone that Percy had just met. "We're all in the same group."

Percy nodded but on the inside he was steaming. His mother had said _nothing_ about nightly therapy.

"Yeah, it's an hour of adults trying to make us talk about our feelings and release our inner demons or some shit like that," Thalia said. "It's great."

"Ignore her," Leo put his hand over the side of his mouth like he was telling a secret. In a loud whisper he said, "She's depressed."

Not even a full second later, Thalia whapped Leo on the back of the head, her cheeks flushed. "Shut up, Valdez!" her voice was agitated but held an emotion Percy couldn't quite decipher. "You know that's not true!"

"If it's not true then why do you-?" Leo started to say.

"I said shut up," Thalia growled, glaring at him. Percy suddenly felt very out of place, like he was intruding on a private moment and he should just leave. Thalia seemed to catch on because she turned to him looking apologetic. "I'm sorry; you're probably freaked out by me now, huh?"

Percy shrugged, feeling a bit better about the situation. "I've seen worse," he teased. He thought he might have seen the ghost of a smile on her lips but it disappeared so fast he couldn't be certain.

* * *

"So what do you think of the new kid?" Piper asked, absentmindedly braiding her hair. It had been several hours since they'd first met Percy and Piper seemed to think he was the coolest thing since sliced bread. _That really is a stupid saying,_ Thalia mused quietly.

Thalia looked up from her iPod which she had been scrolling through. "Who, Percy?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "Who else?"

Thalia shrugged, going back to searching through her iPod. "He's alright, I guess. Seems like a nice enough guy."

Piper nodded. "He doesn't seem like he belongs in a place like this."

"Does anyone here really seem like they belong in a place like this?" Hazel asked. She'd been so silent that Thalia had almost forgotten that she was there at all.

"Tru dat," Thalia mumbled, still not ungluing her eyes from the screen.

"He's kind of cute," Piper commented. Thalia grunted in acknowledgement, not really paying attention. Hazel stayed silent. "I think he was into you, Thalia."

At this, Thalia's head snapped up. "What the hell are you on about?"

"Don't curse at me!" Piper reprimanded her. "I'm just saying he kept looking over at you!"

"Yes because that automatically means he likes me," Thalia said sarcastically. "God, I don't even want a boyfriend."

Piper crossed her arms and sighed unhappily. "Well excuse me for trying to help! Maybe you'd be happier if you had a boyfriend."

Thalia snorted. "Yeah, right."

* * *

Percy was informed that dinner was at 6:30. It was 6:29 as he was running through the halls and he briefly wondered if he'd get in trouble for being late to eat. He really hoped not.

With merely seconds to spare, Percy located the door to the dining room and followed the small stream of kids inside. He looked around for an empty table where he could just sit by himself with his mundane thoughts to keep him company when a familiar voice rang out loud and clear across the large room.

"Yo, Persassy! Over here!"

Percy almost audibly groaned at Leo's new nickname for him but he still made his way over to the table where all of his new- what were they? Friends? Acquaintances?- were sitting.

"Never call me that again," Percy told Leo as he slid into the only empty seat- one next to Thalia. Leo shrugged, not looking at all sorry.

Percy really wasn't sure how to keep a conversation going but was saved from trying anyhow when a woman in an apron and hairnet approached him with a tray full of food. To his surprise, she set it down in front of him. She pressed a familiar looking pill into his hand while all the other members of his table looked at him curiously.

In a bored voice she told him, "For therapy after dinner please report to room 139 for a session with Dr. Apollo." She didn't give him a chance to respond before she walked away.

"Hey that's our group!" Frank told him. Percy smiled in response, gripping the pill in his hand tightly. He tried to slip it discreetly in his pocket but he dropped it and it bounced to the floor. Cursing, he slid off the bench and grabbed for the little pill.

"What do you need meds for?" Thalia asked. _So much for being discreet,_ he thought. His cheeks flushed red but she didn't seem to be freaked out or sympathetic, just curious. "Don't worry; lots of us are on medication here."

As if to prove to him, she pulled a little pill out from her wadded up napkin and stuck it in her mouth. Leo whistled and Piper told him, "You should feel honored that she did that for you. She never takes her pills."

Thalia scowled at her.

"I, uh, have ADHD so um, I take pills for it," Percy explained, feeling awkward. He'd never really told anyone about that, not even Annabeth or Grover. It wasn't that he didn't want them to know, it's just that it had never come up in a conversation.

Thalia nodded. "I feel you. And I bet you already guessed that Repair Boy over here has it as well," she jerked a thumb in Leo's direction.

_Repair Boy?_ Percy silently wondered. Instead of voicing his thoughts he asked Thalia, "You have ADHD too?"

Thalia shrugged. "Yep, one of the many things on the list of reasons why Thalia is in therapy."

Percy laughed.

A little bit later, while the rest of the table was engaged in a conversation, Percy found himself studying Thalia. She was pretty, that was for sure but she had an aura of _back-off-I-can-kick-your-ass _about her. She laughed at something that Jason had said, making the freckles sprinkled across her nose crinkle up and Percy smiled. He couldn't imagine for the life of him why she was in a rehab center.

A pale hand being waved in front of his face pulled him out of his reverie. He blinked and Thalia smirked. "Like what you see there, Jackson?"

Percy scoffed and forced himself to look everywhere but her face. He was about to throw back a sarcastic comment when something donned on him. "How do you know my last name? I never told you that."

"I did my research," Thalia shrugged. "You're a very interesting subject Perseus Jackson."

Percy flushed at his full name. "Did you read my file or something?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Thalia told him. A playful smirk stayed on her lips as she looked at his slightly shocked expression.

"Is that even _legal_?" Percy asked flabbergasted. He had to admire her guts, though and he was amazed that he wasn't particularly mad. Maybe it was the way she played it off like it was no big deal so he didn't feel like it was one. He had no clue.

Thalia just breathed out a small laugh. "Probably not," she admitted. "But this is a place where they send lost causes. It's what they expect from us."

"We're going to be late," Hazel interrupted their little squabble in a quiet voice. She hardly spoke, Percy realized. She was so silent that she could practically fade into the background. "For therapy, I mean."

Jason turned and looked at the clock on the wall. "She's right," he said, standing up. "We should get going."

Percy, realizing he hadn't eaten much of his food, stuffed a roll in his mouth before dumping the rest of his tray into the trashcan. He hurriedly followed the rest of his group down the hall.

He jogged up to the front of the group to stand by Jason and Piper, who- besides Leo- seemed to be the friendliest. "So how does this therapy thing work?" Percy asked curiously.

Jason laughed a little. "It's pretty boring. Basically we're supposed to talk about our feelings and stuff but normally we just end up hanging out. Dr. Apollo's kinda cool too," he added shrugging.

"It's not bad," Piper interjected. "I don't think you'll hate it."

Percy nodded. Not hating stuff was good.

They reached a door at the end of the hallway, which Jason yanked open and they went in. It looked like any other meeting room, not that Percy had been in any meetings before. There were a few things missing from the picture of said meeting room in his mind, namely a table. There were chairs set up in a circle but besides the ceiling light that was basically all that was there.

Besides the man that sat in the only occupied chair in the circle.

For a moment Percy froze, thinking it was Luke Castellan, they had the same blonde hair and blue eyes, but once the moment passed he realized that that was where the similarities ended. Dr. Apollo had kind eyes, unlike Luke's harsh ones and also unlike Luke; he didn't have an ugly scar running down his cheeks.

He smiled and offered Percy a hand. "Hi there you must be Perseus, I'm Dr. Apollo, but you can just call me Apollo if you'd prefer."

"Ok then you can call me Percy," Percy corrected.

Apollo had a blinding white smile, Percy realized as the doctor continued to grin. What kind of toothpaste did he use? "My mistake," he told him. "Please have a seat."

Percy sat. Leo slid in next to him, his leg bouncing up and down the moment his butt landed in the chair. Percy stared in amazement. He was on medication for being ADHD but this kid wasn't?!

"Alright so why don't we go around the circle and each introduce ourselves, in honor of our new member," Apollo said.

"We kind of already know each other," Frank told him. Percy nodded in agreement.

Apollo nodded. "Good," he grinned. "So I know it isn't really fun for you guys, but I'm required to ask if any of you want to share any thoughts or feelings you have. But I'm also required to let you know that if you don't want to discuss why you're here then you don't need to."

Apollo sat back in his chair, glancing at everyone in the room. Nobody said a word. He sighed. "I figured as much," he muttered, though he didn't sound especially mad. "Ok well how about we all talk about something positive that happened to you this week," rolling his eyes at their groans, Apollo added. "It won't kill you!"

"You sure 'bout that?" Thalia muttered quietly.

Apollo must have heard though because he turned to her, never once losing his cool composure. "Thalia since you seem so keen to share your mind, how about you go first."

Thalia huffed out a sigh, looking thoughtful for a moment. "I…" she paused, looking like she was choosing her words carefully. "I made progress in my… _condition_."

Apollo nodded in understanding- as did most of the others- but Percy just sat there slightly dumbfounded. He knew there had to be a reason that Thalia was in rehab but just the way she said 'condition' it sounded pretty bad and you could tell that she was ashamed by it.

Jason went next. "I had a date with Piper," he told the group, blushing slightly. Piper smiled and said the same thing, obviously using Jason's name instead of her own.

Frank said that his grandmother called him, although the way he said it made it seem like it wasn't so positive in his opinion. Hazel said that she'd stopped having nightmares about her mother. Again, _what?_

Then it was Percy's turn, and he had no clue what to say. "Um…" he started uncertainly. "I had ice cream with my friends."

_Lame,_ he instantly berated himself. It was something positive, although it wasn't the most interesting thing he could have said. He was satisfied though when no one said a word.

Apollo nodded at all of them. "Nice," he said. "Now that we have all that psychiatric stuff outta the way, just… talk amongst yourselves."

As if connected, the rest of his group stood up and moved over to the side of the room to talk. Percy followed after a moment's hesitation. No time to play shy boy.

"Aren't we supposed to… I dunno do lame trust falls and therapy-ish stuff?" Percy asked.

Frank snorted. "Probably," he said.

Hazel shrugged her tiny shoulders. "Apollo's cool," she told him. "He doesn't force us to do things like some of the therapists do."

Percy nodded. That made sense, he guessed.

"Are you complaining?" Thalia raised a slender eyebrow at him.

Percy flushed. "What? No! Of course not," he quickly jumped to his own defense. Thalia just smirked at him in response.

* * *

Thalia stared at the ceiling, mentally tracing patterns above her head. Her room was completely dark, which was logical considering that it was past midnight and lights out was over an hour ago.

She couldn't sleep.

This happened to her frequently, more than she liked to admit to anyone, friend or other. They already worried about her enough as it was; she didn't need them to think that she was an insomniac now too.

Which she wasn't.

…Probably.

She raised her hand above her face, admiring her chipped nails and how the black color they were painted basically seemed to blend in with the background. Her eyes flickered to her wrist and she instantly let her arm fall back onto the bed with a light thump. Not the time to focus on such things.

She itched to get up and roam around; lying unmoving on the bed was driving her insane. What she told Percy was true, she did have ADHD and it made staying still like this seem harder than running a marathon. But she also knew that if she got caught wandering around at night she would be in deep schist.

She speaks from experience.

Still though, the rules didn't forbid her from walking about her room. She slipped out from underneath the covers, pausing momentarily to shiver at the sudden lack of warmth. She wrapped her hands around her bare arms and padded quietly over to the window.

Thalia pulled back the curtains and sat on the little ledge. The moon cast shimmering light onto the lake's water. She wasn't a huge fan of water but even she had to admit that it was a pretty sight to look at.

Sleeping was dull, she mused to herself. You couldn't get anything done and all it did was leave her tired since she rarely got more than a few hours of it.

_Oh yes, sleep was very pointless_, she thought as she drifted off into its arms.

* * *

**Wow, so don't get used to me updating this fast this pretty much NEVER happens. Anyway, this chapter turned out to be shorter than I would have liked but oh well, what can you do. Also sorry that it's basically a filler and nothing interesting happens. I'm still working out which direction that I want this story to go so I kind of used this chapter as a base so I can pretty much go whichever direction I please with it. Also, if you noticed, I touched on Thalia's main problem in the last little section. If you can guess what it is (which I bet you can, you're smart) then leave it in a review :) Ta ta for now! **


	3. Birthdays

**Disclaimer: Do you seriously think I own PJO? If I owned it, I wouldn't be writing FANfiction. Key word being 'fan.' **

* * *

Thalia liked Saturdays. They'd been her favorite when she was a kid and they still were, even though she now spent them locked up in teenage prison.

Thalia was currently curled up in the branches of her favorite pine tree, her head leaning back against the tree trunk. She bobbed her foot in time to the music that was blaring from her headphones while her other leg hung in the air. She'd escaped off to the little forest behind CHB directly after breakfast for a little "Thalia time."

It was quite a nice day, she thought. Fall had always been one of her favorite seasons; it was never too hot or too cold or too anything. It was just right.

_Ugh, now she sounded like Goldilocks. _

Figuring it was warm enough to do without a jacket _and_ a long sleeve shirt, Thalia decidedly shrugged off her leather jacket. Finding nowhere to set it, she simply let it fall from her hands and too the ground. Well, at least that was the set destination.

A muffled sound of protest caused Thalia to pull a headphone out of one ear and look towards the ground to see a surprised Percy Jackson wearing her jacket as a hat. She just barely stifled a laugh.

"Seriously?!" he called up to her, pulling her jacket from his face and depositing it at the base of the tree.

She shrugged innocently. "Whoops. It was an accident, I swear."

Percy rolled his eyes. "So you just happened to drop it as I walked by?"

Thalia nodded, somehow managing to keep her face straight. "Of course, I'm not mean. But, you should know better than to come into my territory."

"Your territory, eh?" Percy raised an eyebrow in amusement. Thalia had to try hard to keep herself from doing something ridiculous like sticking her tongue out at him.

She was deciding between responding and shoving her headphones back in her ears and ignoring him when he kind of made the choice for her. He jumped up a little and grasped the lowest hanging branch on the tree- _her_ tree- before slowly but steadily making his way up to the top where she was perched.

"What do you think you're doing?" Thalia spluttered, completely thrown off. Most people (minus her small group of misfits) weren't really eager to hang out with her.

Percy shrugged and settled into a branch nearly the same height as hers. "Joining you. You seemed lonely."

"Well I wasn't!"

Percy held up his hands in mock surrender. "Well I'm here now. Unless you want me to fall out of this tree, I'm not leaving."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Kelp Head," she murmured.

Percy looked at her strangely. "What?"

Thalia huffed but explained herself anyway. "I already told you, I read your file. Do you think it would forget to mention you're a competitive swimmer? A pretty good one I might add. Thus the name Kelp Head."

Percy looked a little embarrassed. "I'm not that go-"

"Three first place awards, if I recall," Thalia tapped her chin, pretending to think. "But that's not _good_ or anything."

Percy rolled his eyes but smiled shyly at her. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

Percy made an impatient noise. "Do you like to swim?"

Thalia almost laughed. "Oh god no! Not a fan."

Percy's expression was one of shocked disbelief, like she'd told him that she had one too many toes or something. "You don't like swimming?" he asked incredulously. When she shook her head, he continued. "Why not? What's not to like?"

Thalia wasn't big on opening up but she figured telling the kid a few things about herself wouldn't kill her. Apollo was always telling her to let people in, anyway.

"My dad was a pilot, hated the water," Thalia shrugged, finding it very hard to speak when her family was involved. "Guess it's in my blood."

Percy smiled but his voice was a little wistful. "Same for me, except my dad was really into boats and stuff. He died before I was born. But it must be cool having a pilot for a dad. I bet you get to go to a bunch of cool places."

Thalia smirked to mask the discomfort she was feeling. She was basically spilling her guts to a stranger. She thought about telling herself that it was because Percy made her want to talk but even in her head that sounded like a load of bullshit.

"I never met my dad either," Thalia explained. She paused for a moment. "Er, well, I don't remember him. He was around for about two years after I was born before he left us."

Percy's face turned sympathetic quickly and Thalia frowned, looking away. She hated sympathy. "I'm sorry," he told her.

"Don't be," she said gruffly. She crossed her arms over her chest.

He let the subject drop and for a moment it was silent. Thalia pursed her lips and was about ready to resume her earlier task of mindlessly listening to music when Percy spoke.

"Why are you here?" he spoke quietly, hesitantly, as though he was afraid she might snap in half in a moment's notice. And as interesting as that would be…

"I was here first," Thalia shot back. "Why are _you_ here?"

Percy rolled his eyes for about the millionth time since she'd met him. "I meant rehab, not this tree."

Thalia had known what he meant but she'd been hoping to cleverly avoid answering. "I got me some issues," she said, attempting to play it off cool. He obviously wasn't convinced.

"Wanna be more specific?"

"Jesus, kid you are a pushy one, aren't you?"

Percy flushed. "Sorry," he murmured. "It's just… how can someone like _you_ be in a place like this? A place for… _bad _kids."

The corner of Thalia's mouth twitched. "Someone like me?"

Percy looked thoughtful, like he was searching for the right words. "Yeah," he said finally. "Someone who's funny and nice and… _not_ bad."

Thalia actually did smile at his words but she turned so she couldn't see his face. _If only he knew…_

She thought about telling him everything right then and there and for a brief moment it didn't matter that Percy wanting her to open up was bullshit or that she'd just met the kid but then she clamped back up within seconds. The moment was gone.

Instead she settled with a simple, "You're not bad either, Jackson."

* * *

It turned out sitting in a tree is the best way to have a sore butt for the rest of the day. See? You learn something new every day.

After his little adventure in said tree, Percy decided to spend some alone time in his room. He figured he should also unpack his stuff from his bag after he had to dig through picture frames and extra tubes of toothpaste just to get a pair of socks.

Percy lacked organizational skills if you couldn't tell.

He was hanging up some clothes in his closet and setting little random things on his desk when an insistent buzzing sound scared him half to death. It only took him a few moments to realize he was being stupid because it was just his phone set to vibrate and not a swarm of killer bees coming for him.

He rolled his eyes at his own stupidity, fumbling around with his bag for a moment before dumping his phone into the palm of his hand. Caller ID informed him that his mom was calling.

"Hello?"

"Percy!" his mom exclaimed. "How are you? Do you like it there? I miss you so much already; the house is just so quiet without you!"

"Whoa mom, slow down," Percy chuckled.

His mom exhaled. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine," Percy told her, smiling a little. "And I guess I'm liking it ok. I think I made some friends too."

He could imagine his mom's smile of relief. "That's good. So you aren't mad at me for sending you there anymore?"

Percy sighed, running a hand through his crazy, black hair. "I guess not. I'm sorry."

"It's fine sweetie, I just want you to be happy," his mother told him. "I have to run but I'd love to talk more later. I love you, Percy."

"Love you too, mom," he said before hanging up. He slid his phone into the pocket of his jeans. It was nice to hear from his mother. He'd been called a mama's boy countless times but the truth was it'd always been just him and his mom. He was used to her just _being_ there and suddenly she wasn't. It was… weird.

With an embarrassing amount of effort, Percy managed to make himself get back to the mindless task of unpacking. While half dancing around his room to throw things into his closet, Percy found the time to reflect on his morning 'adventure.'

He'd gone on a walk, wanting to go check out the lake and maybe sit with his feet in the water or something. It was too cold to swim. He hadn't expected to come across Thalia, especially not in a tree. Then again, he also didn't expect to have her jacket tossed on his head like he was a walking coatrack.

He was just unlucky with timing like that.

Also, that nickname… it was almost the exact same one that Annabeth used, "Seaweed Brain." Why did everyone seem to connect aquatic plants to how smart he was?!

He didn't realize that he'd finished putting away all of his things until he was left standing in the middle of his room holding an empty duffel- which he promptly tossed to the side.

"Well alright," he mumbled, heading for the door. "Guess it's time to go be social."

* * *

As much as Thalia wanted the trees to stay orange and the air to stay breezy, December rolled around, bringing with it snow, and frigid air and worst of all: Thalia's birthday.

Most teenagers liked birthdays. Yeah, Thalia wasn't most teenagers. She supposed she should be excited, she was turning seventeen after all, but growing up, her birthdays had never been the most fun thing ever and as she got older the feeling stayed with her.

For about her first ten birthdays, she got exactly nothing. No presents, no cake, no acknowledgement from anyone besides Jason who would try to make it special (but he was young, you couldn't blame the kid). A few days after her thirteenth birthday, her mother died. She wasn't exactly sad (admitting so made her feel like a terrible person) but she was not thrilled to be sent off to a foster home directly after.

Yeah. Happy birthday to her.

This year, she hoped to age silently. She never brought up her birthday with any of her friends and since her brother didn't remember anything so he couldn't tell anyone, she figured her master plan would work perfectly.

But then of course Leo was put on earth to F everything up.

She'd been idly chewing her bacon at breakfast when Leo had plopped down in his seat. It wasn't unusual for him to be late so she didn't pay him any attention… that is until he started singing her happy birthday.

"Valdez," she growled, throwing her napkin at his face to shut him up. He abruptly paused in the middle of the chorus, the last part of her name never coming from his mouth.

"What?" he asked innocently.

Jason frowned like he was concentrating hard. "It's your birthday? Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?"

Thalia shrugged, feeling uncomfortable with all the eyes that were suddenly on her. Many times a day she wished she could just melt into the shadows and this was one of them. "Because I hate birthdays," she responded, idly picking at her scrambled eggs. She made a point of not making eye contact until she stared directly at Leo. "So how did _you_ know?"

Leo, she could tell, was trying not to give it away but he just _briefly_ glanced at Piper.

"Piper!" Thalia cried, glaring at said girl. "You stole my file?"

Piper blinked. "Of course not," she said evenly. Thalia almost believed her (Piper could be very convincing), but narrowing her eyes she could just barely see the almost invisible guilty look in her eyes.

"Don't lie to me, McLean!" Thalia jokingly waved her fork in the air, pretending to be menacing. She wasn't going to treat this like a big deal as long as they weren't.

Piper kept a straight face for all of three seconds before bursting out laughing. "He made me!" she gasped in between giggles, pointing at Leo.

Percy, who had been unusually silent, spoke up. "So… are you going to do anything special?"

"For what?" Thalia asked dumbly.

Percy rolled his eyes. "For your birthday, air head."

"Ew, god no!"

Frank frowned. "But it's your birthday. Don't you want to do anything something… memorable?" he asked. Hazel nodded in agreement from beside him.

"I'm pretty sure I'll remember my first birthday spent in rehab," Thalia said dryly. She shoved her chair back from the table abruptly. "I'll see you guys later."

She stacked her tray with the others line up along the countertop. She wasn't particularly mad at her friends but being alone seemed best at that moment. When she was a good distance away from the dining hall, she stopped. She had no idea where to go. It was too cold outside and being holed up in her room seemed like a bleak option. She decided to head to the Social Room down the hall. It wouldn't be very 'social' with everyone eating but that was kind of the point.

The room, filled with furniture but not people, had a certain solitude that she liked: she was alone and it was quiet enough but she could still just barely hear the buzz of voices coming from the dining hall. She settled into the corner of a thick, white couch that was seated in front of a TV.

She gently leaned her head back onto the wall, brushing her choppy hair behind her shoulders. Vaguely, she wondered when it'd gotten so long and made a mental note to steal Piper's safety scissors to cut it later. Closing her eyes, Thalia was suddenly aware how little sleep she'd gotten the night before. Taking a nap sounded very appealing.

She was just deciding that that was exactly what she was going to do when a loud crashing sound, followed by a moan of pain, caused her eyes to fly open. Thalia wasn't sure what she expected but it wasn't to see Percy Jackson face first on the ground holding his leg, a toppled over chair next to him.

"I tripped," he gasped, stumbling to his feet. He righted the chair and immediately collapsed into it.

"No shit, Sherlock," Thalia told him.

Percy huffed. "I don't have to keep you company, you know."

"Ok," Thalia shrugged. "I didn't invite you here anyway. You can go skipping back to all your little friends."

Percy, ignoring her jibe, said, "They're your friends too."

Thalia shrugged. "Minor detail. Wouldn't have sounded as good as if I'd said 'our friends.' Doesn't have the I-don't-care-about-shit vibe that I was going for."

"Well you pulled it off perfectly," Percy told her, lifting his arms up behind his head. Thalia rolled her eyes and gave a mock bow.

"So what are you doing here, stalking me?" Thalia asked.

"Of course, because everything revolves around you," Percy said in mock serious voice.

Thalia nodded just as seriously. "Well it _is_ my birthday you know."

"I thought you said it didn't matter," Percy supplied, raising a dark eyebrow.

"Ah ha!" Thalia said, dramatically pointing a finger. "So you were paying attention."

Percy scoffed at her but she could see the slight way the corner of his lip curled up. She sat back in her seat, feeling slightly satisfied. As silence dragged on for more than a few seconds, Thalia searched for a topic, something that would get him talking.

"So… you counting down the days till you're getting outta here?" Thalia asked lamely. It was a stupid question. Anyone that was here, most likely didn't want to be.

Percy just shrugged. "I guess. I mean, I've barely been here a month so I'm not expecting to go home any time soon. Plus I don't really feel different than I did when I got here."

"You will," Thalia surprised herself by saying. "When I got here I was… not in a very good state. They helped me sto-" Thalia bit her lip, cursing herself for almost slipping up. "They helped me get better."

Percy had obviously noticed her slip up to. "You're still refusing to tell me why you're here?"

"You don't talk about why _you're_ here!" Thalia pointed out, avoiding the question.

"You read my file!" Percy exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. Thalia bit her tongue to keep from laughing at his mini outburst. "If you want me to talk then ok: I punched a couple kids and now I'm here."

Thalia didn't react.

"…you're not going to tell me, are you?" Percy asked after a moment.

"Nope."

Instead of making the situation worse, like Thalia feared her might, he just leaned back in his chair, laughed a little and mumbled, "Screw you."

* * *

"You are fricking _crazy_," Jason mumbled as they stepped inside the doors of Camp Half Blood, shaking snow from their hair and jackets. "Who wants to take a walk when it's freezing outside?"

"Me!" Thalia said indignantly. "And it's not that cold!"

"Whatever," Jason huffed. "The only reason I actually went with you is because it's your birthday."

Thalia smirked. "I know. Maybe this 'celebrating birthdays' thing isn't so bad."

They walked up the stairs together, chatting about random things. Thalia felt very content and a lot better than she had that morning. She would never tell him, but spending time with her brother always cheered her up, even if he had some weird issues so he didn't remember most of their time together.

They parted at Jason's floor, which was a level below Thalia's. She shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her silver coat, still trying to regain her body heat. Jason had been right when he said it was cold but it was too nice of a night not to take a walk.

When she reached her floor, she shoved her room key in quickly, reveling in the warmth that her small room held. She slipped out of her combat boots and collapsed on the bed.

"Not the worst birthday," she mumbled to herself, smiling a bit.

There was a sudden knock on the door. Thalia was sure she'd imagine it, no one ever knocked on her door this late at night but when the mysterious person knocked again, she hesitantly got to her feet. She opened the door and came face to face with Percy Jackson.

"You _are_ stalking me!" she blurted out before she could help herself.

"Um… not exactly," Percy said. "I just came to give you… this."

His cheeks were flushed as her held out his hand and Thalia realized he was holding a crudely made chocolate cupcake. She took it from him, having to hold it at an angle so the lopsided frosting didn't slide off.

"It's… uh, it's not very special," Percy wouldn't make eye contact with her as he spoke, a blush still warming his cheeks. "But I got permission to go into the kitchen and make it. Hazel helped me."

"Thank you," Thalia said sincerely. Truthfully, it wasn't very impressive but it may have been the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her. No one ever seemed to care that much.

Percy smiled when he realized her tone wasn't mocking or rude. "Happy birthday, Thals."

Thalia didn't even bother ridiculing the nickname. Instead she took a bit of her cupcake. "It's not very pretty," Thalia said. "But it is really good."

Percy smirked. "It must be. You have frosting on your cheek."

Thalia couldn't help herself. She slid her finger over the top of the cupcake, gathering a blob of frosting, before swiping it over his nose. She paused for a moment, wondering what the hell she'd just done. Was that _flirting?!_

Percy didn't seem very surprised or mad or anything. He wrinkled his nose causing some of the frosting to fall down his face. "I think I'll just keep it like this," he laughed. "It could be a new trend."

Thalia smiled, relieved.

Percy glanced up at the clock on her wall and grimaced. "I gotta go unless I want the harpies to chew me out," harpies were what everyone at CHB called the people who patrolled the halls at night, making sure no one was doing anything illegal. "Happy birthday, Thals," he repeated. "Night."

He slid out the door before she could even respond. "Night, Perce," she mumbled, but the door had already closed.

* * *

**Some Percy/Thalia development to keep you occupied. Sorry it's been a while. My inspiration is running a bit low. If you have any idea's leave a review or shoot me a PM. Thanks!**


	4. Under the Mistletoe

**Ok so this is my late Christmas present to you. I think you all will like the ending ;)**

**Disclaimer: do we really have to go through this every time? I don't freaking own Percy Jackson! Jeez...**

* * *

Percy didn't realize how much he had missed Annabeth until her face popped up onto his phone screen. Grinning, he set his pen down; abandoning the homework he was supposed to be doing. He hated that even though he wasn't going to an _actual_ school he still had to work like he was. It was complete bullshit.

Percy accepted Annabeth's phone call and brought the phone up to his ear. "Hey Annie!"

"Merry Christmas!" Annabeth's cheery voice replied as she-for once- ignored what he'd called her.

Percy stopped and pulled his phone away from his ear. He checked the date at the top, and sure enough, it said December 25th. "I'm such an idiot," he moaned, shoving the phone back to his ear.

"You forgot it was Christmas?!" Annabeth sounded like he'd just told her that he'd killed her puppy. And her entire family. Christmas was Annabeth's favorite holiday.

"… Maybe," Percy was quick to continue before Annabeth could interject her thoughts on the matter. "I mean, I know it's Christmas, it… uh… just hadn't occurred to me when I woke up," suddenly, a horrifying thought struck him. "Oh my god! I was doing homework on _Christmas_!"

Annabeth laughed. "Seaweed brain," she muttered. He could picture her shaking her head.

"You sound just like Thalia," Percy grumbled absently.

"Who?" Annabeth asked curiously, a teasing tone quickly overtaking her voice. "Got yourself a girlfriend already?"

Percy was glad that Annabeth wasn't seeing him in person because he could feel his cheeks flaming up. "No!" he replied a bit too quickly, something that didn't go unnoticed by Annabeth. "She's just my friend!"

He could've have bet money that Annabeth was smirking at him in that very moment. "Whatever you say, Perce," she paused for a moment. He could hear muffled voices. It sounded like she was listening to someone talking to her on her side of the line. "Ugh, I've gotta go spend time with my family. I'll try to call you later if I'm not dead. Later, Percy."

He told her goodbye just as the line went dead.

Spinning around in his desk chair once for good measure, Percy stood up and stretched. He shook his head, laughing at his own idiocy. How on earth could he possibly have forgotten it was Christmas when he woke up?

He quickly got dressed before heading down to breakfast. He joined his friends at their usual table; his tray filled with bacon and waffles was already waiting for him. He slid into his seat. "Merry Christmas!" he told them. He wasn't making the same mistake twice.

Everyone returned the greeting with various levels of enthusiasm. The dining hall was filled with steady chatter and it seemed as though the cooks had put in a bit more effort with their breakfast that morning. The whole atmosphere was cheery and cozy and Percy could almost forget that he wouldn't be spending Christmas with his mother.

The fact had been bothering him constantly but he felt better when later that morning a box arrived in the mail, addressed to him. It was filled with his Christmas presents- most of it being candy- and a card from his mother say that she was sorry but she couldn't call him as she was spending Christmas with a cousin he didn't know. Frank and Piper got packages too, although neither of them seemed too excited about it.

Piper held up an almost-blinding-it-was-so-sparkly top, which she stared at with distaste. It was obviously designer but that didn't seem to matter. "Gee," she said. "Thanks dad. All I wanted was a pair of headphones."

She did receive the headphones, but they were pink and sparkly and she vowed never to use them.

Frank's package was mostly empty except for a pack of gum and a note saying: A STRONG MAN DOESN'T EXPECT MUCH. It was from his grandmother. Percy actually felt very lucky for once, at least compared to his two friends who both looked about as happy as they would have been if they'd been sent boxes full of mud.

Frank offered everyone a piece of gum. "I don't even like spearmint," he told them glumly. Percy didn't much either but he took some anyway.

Later that afternoon, Chiron came into the Social Room and served everyone hot chocolate before popping in some cheesy Christmas movie. Percy felt content as he leaned back into the couch, teasing Frank about his whipped cream mustache.

It was only later when Percy was helpfully- ok so maybe he'd been forced into it- bringing back the dirty mugs to the kitchen, that he found Thalia. She was sitting on the floor in the hallway, headphones in but as far as he could tell she wasn't listening to anything. He dropped the mugs on a small table before approaching her.

"Um… hey," he said tentatively.

Thalia looked up, seeming to notice him for the first time. "Kelp Held," she nodded her head in acknowledgement. Percy rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "Why aren't you with everyone, you know, getting in the Christmas spirit?"

"I'm perfectly in the Christmas spirit," Thalia grumbled.

Percy snorted. "Oh, for sure."

Thalia narrowed her electric eyes at him. "What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"Nothing!" Percy raised his hands in exaggerated innocence.

"Oh I'm sure," Thalia mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. "Whatever. You're not worth my time."

Ok, ouch. "Jeez, Scrooge, someone still your Christmas?"

"That's the Grinch dumbass."

Percy sighed, obviously realizing he wasn't getting anywhere. He turned to leave when Thalia called his name.

"Wait," she said, biting her lip to keep herself from taking back the words. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

Percy grinned and plopped down next to her. "Yeah, I figured. So what's up your ass?"

Thalia laughed. "Straight forward," she commented. She sobered up quickly. "It's nothing, it's just… doesn't it bother you that we're not allowed to leave this place?"

Percy shrugged. "We could go outside if you'd like…?"

"No!" Thalia said. "That's not what I mean… I… don't know," she finished lamely, but Percy understood.

"You want to sneak out?" he clarified.

"No!" Thalia bit her lip. "…yes. And I know a way out it's just… sneaking out alone is, well, lonely but if you're with someone…"

"…Do you want me to come with you?"

Thalia seemed a little surprised, but she nodded slowly. "Yeah… ok. Come with me."

They got up, and Percy followed Thalia to the end of the hall. She opened up the door to a supply closet that Percy would have thought had been locked and pulled a dusty curtain aside. An old window with broken glass stood before them, the only thing keeping them from the outside world was a flimsy piece of screen which Thalia easily took out.

She placed the screen at the base of the window and swung her leg up over the edge. She looked as though she'd done this before. Before disappearing completely into the night, she stuck her head out.

"If you're going to chicken out, now's your chance," she smirked. Percy had honestly been considering doing just that but the look on her face told him that he'd never live it down.

"Move over," he grunted, trying to swing his leg up like he'd seen her do. It took him a couple tried but eventually he landed less-than-gracefully in the snow covered grass.

"Took you long enough," Thalia commented.

"Where are we going?" Percy said, ignoring Thalia's comment.

Thalia shrugged. "There's a nice little park not too far away from here. They sell hot chocolate."

Percy nodded. Sounded fine with him. "You really know your stuff," he noted. "Do you sneak out a lot?"

Thalia shrugged again. "Not much," she admitted. "Just twice with Piper, once with Jason and two or three times with Leo, I can't remember which."

"Yeah, not much," Percy said sarcastically. Thalia laughed and elbowed him in the side.

"What can I say?" she said, fighting back a smile. "I'm just born to be bad!"

The park wasn't a very long ways away, Percy discovered, and it didn't take them more than ten minutes to get there. It was a bit too cold for a walk though, and Percy wished he'd had more of a warning that Thalia wanted to sneak out so he could layer up instead of freezing his ass off in a long sleeve t-shirt and light weight hoodie. Thalia was dressed in a t-shirt and her leather jacket but she didn't act as though the temperature was bothering her in the least.

They didn't talk much as they walked, something that should have been uncomfortable but wasn't. Percy focused on the sound of snow crunching under their shoes as they walked.

Just when Percy was thinking that they should just turn around and go back, Thalia's face brightened slightly. "Here we are," she said softly.

It wasn't really all that impressive. There was a small play structure off to one side, which in other circumstances would have been nice if it weren't on the verge of collapsing, and even covered in snow, Percy could tell the grass was overgrown and dying. It wasn't like any of the nice parks Percy's mom had taken him to when he was young.

Thalia must have either read his mind or his face was giving away his lack of enthusiasm. "I know it's not very special," she said, still keeping her voice down a bit. There weren't too many people around but it just seemed like the kind of place you whispered at. "But my mom used to take me and Jason here when we were younger."

"You never talk about your mom," Percy noted.

"Why should I?" Thalia shot back. "She was a worthless woman and I hated her. Got herself killed about a year and a half ago."

Percy fell silent. He didn't want to push Thalia but he couldn't deny his curiosity. "I'm sorry," he said. Thalia pursed her lips but didn't answer. "…why is this park so special to you then if you… hated your mom?"

"Did I ever say this place was special to me?" Thalia practically growled. In the moonlight, with her eyes full of angry fire she looked like a predator ready to pounce. She glared at him for a few seconds more before the anger drained from her face. "Let's go get hot cocoa," she suggested, not waiting to see if Percy was following when she turned.

A dumpy old man in a Santa hat and a ratty jacket was pushing a hot chocolate cart, cursing every few seconds as the wheels got stuck in the grass. Percy wasn't too sure about this guy- he looked homeless- but Thalia approached him with hesitation.

"Hey Jerry," Thalia greeted.

"Thalia!" the old man grinned. "How've you been, you little shit?!"  
Percy's eyes widened in surprise but Thalia didn't seem at all put off by this greeting. She just laughed. "Alright I guess. Just showing Percy here the lovely scenery," she gestured to the park with big sweeping arm movements. Jerry laughed.

"He your boyfriend?" Jerry asked. Percy felt his cheeks flush red.

Thalia snorted. "Of course not. Now can we have two hot cocoas or what?"

"'Course."

Thalia pulled some bills from her pocket but Percy caught her arm. "I can pay," he told her.

Thalia's upper lip curled up in disbelief. Percy had to hide a snort; she looked kind of cute. "Don't be sexist!" she said. "Guys don't have to pay for the girls. _Especially_ when it's not a date!"

Percy dropped her wrist, surprised, but nodded hesitantly. Thalia nodded, satisfied, and was about to lay the money on the cart when Jerry stopped her as well. "Now, Thalia let's not be like that. Besides, there's way I'm letting either of you pay. It's on me."

For some reason Thalia seemed ok with that, but not with Percy paying. _She's unbelievable, _he huffed to himself. Although, he had to admit the hot chocolate was _really_ good, better than what they had at CHB. With the looks of this guy, he'd expected something like water with cheap hot chocolate mix but instead he got some form of heaven… creamy heaven.

"I can see why you like this guy," Percy said, sipping the hot chocolate carefully. They were mindlessly walking circles around the park and with the heat from the warm drinking seeping into his system, he was perfectly content.

Thalia nodded, her hands wrapped tightly around her cup. "He used to help me out," she said quietly. She cleared her throat and spoke louder. "Like when I ran away or something, he'd always give me free drinks and stuff. He even let me stay with him once, but that was only because I was in pretty bad shape."

She didn't look at him once while she spoke, just stared straight ahead. Her eyes had a faraway look in the, like she was somewhere else completely, and Percy wondered if she'd even realized that she spoke.

"Why'd you run away?" Percy asked cautiously. The last thing he needed was for Thalia to start screaming at him or something for prying.

She turned to face him, biting her lip. She looked thoughtfully, seemingly contemplating telling him or not. "You don't have to tell me," Percy said hurriedly. "I was just curious."

Thalia shook her head, her lip still between her teeth. "No, it's fine," she paused. "I mean… you're my friend. I guess you deserve to know."

Percy nodded, but figured it best to stay silent. Thalia went back to looking at nothing.

"My mom wasn't exactly… a poster mother," Thalia explained. "She wasn't always super nice to me and Jason," she paused and glanced around, almost as though to be sure no one as listening. "Sometimes, I'm glad he lost his memory. I don't want him to remember her."

"Why did he lose his memory?" Percy asked, cursing himself as the words left his mouth. He didn't need to get off topic just when things were getting interesting.

Thalia shrugged. "Some brain disease I can't remember the name of. He's on meds so he's fine now. But the doctors don't think he'll ever fully remember what his past was like. I tell him everything, for the most part, but I kind of avoid the topic of our parents."

Percy nodded slowly even though Thalia wasn't looking at him. "She- she never… _hurt_ you… right?" Percy asked hesitantly. He was quickly approaching unfamiliar ground and he wasn't sure if it was the right place to be.

Thalia was silent.

Percy stole a glance at her, to find her lips pursed and her eyes trained on the ground. "She did… didn't she?" Percy's voice shook a little as he spoke but he couldn't bring himself to care.

It was several long seconds before Thalia spoke again, false happiness in her voice. "Hey," she said, bumping shoulders with him. He thought she hit him a little harder than necessary. "It's Christmas, no need to talk so morbid on such a special day."

Percy didn't want to pry but he also didn't want to change the subject. For some reason, the idea of _anyone_ hurting Thalia really bothered him. They walked in silence for several minutes.

"Hey… I'm kinda cold," Thalia said. "We should probably head back."

Percy nodded, relieved that he wasn't the one who had to break the ice. But still, he felt like he had to say something.

"Look," he said slowly, still afraid that he was putting some kind of barrier between them. "I wasn't trying to force you to talk to me about-"

Thalia held her hands up, effectively cutting him off. "Look, it's fine. Just forget about everything we just talked about and we can all go on living our lives."

Percy nodded. Ok, he could do that. No big deal.

The silence was rather painful as they walked back to CHB together, the only sound being the crunching of the snow under their shoes and the soft sipping as they drank their hot chocolates. It might've been a nice night that Percy could enjoy if the awkwardness wasn't so thick between them.

Finally, after what felt like too long, they reached the broken window they'd slipped out of. Without saying a word to Percy, Thalia hoisted herself up and practically threw herself through the window. He tried to mimic her movements and ended up smashing his nose on the windowsill. He could hear her laugh and even though he was in pain, he smiled in relief.

She didn't hate him. How refreshing.

Thalia's hand appeared through the window and Percy took it gratefully. Once safely on the other side, he felt a lot better. Having his butt dangle out the window wasn't a Christmas highlight.

"Tonight was… pretty fun," he told her.

Thalia smiled almost shyly. Percy didn't know she was capable of being shy. "Thanks. It definitely wasn't bad."

Percy grinned and they started for the door, unfortunately at the same time. They tripped over each other's feet and Percy was sent head first into the door frame. Something fell from the above the door and Percy glanced up.

Hanging for the top of the doorframe was the remainder of a piece of mistletoe. The rest lay on the ground at his feet.

"Awkward," Thalia breathed out a laugh.

Percy could feel his face heating up. "Ummm…" he said intelligently. "It, uh, is a, um, Christmas… tradition to… you know…"

He trailed off uncertainly when he caught Thalia smirking. "Are you trying to kiss me, Percy Jackson?" she raised a slender eyebrow. Percy hoped it was dark enough so she couldn't see how bad his face was burning.

"Uh, I jus-" he was abruptly cut off.

Thalia's lips were on his.

* * *

**Does that count as a cliffhanger? Whoops. Anyway, next chapter will be out as soon as possible. Don't get your hopes up, I'm lazy.**


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